I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to conveyor systems and, more particularly, to a modular roller conveyor system.
II. Description of the Prior Art
There are many previously known roller conveyor systems of the type used in industrial manufacturing operations. These previously known roller conveyor systems typically comprise an elongated frame having a pair of spaced apart and parallel rails. A plurality of roller assemblies are then disposed across the rails and spaced apart from each other thus forming the conveyor path upon which articles to be conveyed are supported.
A primary disadvantage of this type of previously known industrial roller conveyor system is that each roller conveyor system has been custom designed and manufactured in dependence upon the particular type and size of article to be conveyed along the conveyor system. As such, the spacing between the rails or conveyor width, and thus the design of the conveyor frame, varies as a function of the size of the conveyed article.
While these previously known conveyor systems have proven satisfactory in operation, they are necessarily expensive to manufacture. This high cost of manufacturing such previously known roller conveyor systems results in large part from the necessity that each roller conveyor system must be custom designed in accordance with the load conveyed. Such custom design of these previously known roller conveyor systems necessarily entails increased engineering costs and highly skilled, and thus highly paid, assembly workers.
A still further disadvantage of these previously known roller conveyor systems is that, since each roller conveyor system is custom designed for a predetermined article, the roller conveyor system cannot be adapted for articles of different sizes, at least not articles of a larger size. This in turn results in premature obsolescence of the roller conveyor system when conveyance of the article for which the roller conveyor system was originally designed for is no longer required.
The present invention provides a modular roller conveyor system which overcomes all of the above-mentioned disadvantages of the previously known devices.
In brief, the roller conveyor system of the present invention comprises a first pair of elongated vertical supports. These vertical supports are adjustably secured together so that the first pair of vertical supports are spaced apart and parallel to each other. However, unlike the previously known conveyor systems, the spacing between the first pair of vertical supports is adjustable to any selected user defined spacing.
Similarly, the conveyor system further comprises a second pair of elongated vertical supports. This second pair of elongated vertical supports is also adjustably secured together at the same user selected spacing as the first pair of vertical supports and so that the second pair of vertical supports are spaced apart and parallel to each other. The first pair of vertical supports and second pair of vertical supports are then positioned in a spaced apart relationship relative to each other.
A first elongated rail is then secured to an upper end of one of the first pair of vertical supports and to an upper end of one of the second pair of vertical supports. Similarly, a second elongated rail is secured to the upper end of the other of the first pair of the vertical supports and to the upper end of the other of the second pair of vertical supports so that the first and second rails are spaced apart and parallel to each other. A plurality of roller assemblies are then disposed between and supported by the rails so that the roller assemblies are spaced apart and parallel to each other. These roller assemblies thus define the path of the conveyor system and support the articles which are to be conveyed by the roller conveyor system.
Unlike the previously known roller conveyor systems, since the vertical supports in both the first pair of vertical supports and second pair of vertical supports are secured together at a user selected spacing, the width of the roller conveyor system can be easily varied to accommodate articles of different widths. Furthermore, the spacing between the rails may be easily modified at a subsequent date by merely adjusting the spacing between the first pair of vertical supports and second pair of vertical supports. In this event, relatively inexpensive replacement of the roller assemblies to accommodate the new conveyor width may be required.